Moneymaker Wal-Mart Trip

The best thing about shopping at Wal-Mart is their overage policy. If you have a coupon worth more than the item you are buying, Wal-Mart will give you the difference back - meaning certain couponing trips at this store can be quite lucrative. Today I went to Wal-Mart and got over $26 worth of stuff and I made over $2! Check out the breakdown below.

Bought:

5 Almay anti-perspirants for $2.34 each

4 Paper Mate pen packs for $1.34 each

2 Irish Spring body washes for $3.97 each

1 Sharpie marker for $1.58

Used:

5 $4/1 Almay manufacturer coupons

5 $1/1 any Sharpie, Paper Mate, or Ballpoint product Target coupons (Wal-Mart takes competitor coupons)

2 $2/2 Irish Spring manufacturer coupons 

Paid $0, received $2.42 back. This is over 100% savings!!

Saturday CVS Trip

I had a fairly small yet good haul at CVS today. I was really hoping to get the NYC cosmetics deal, as the lip gloss was free, but after traveling to 3 different CVS stores - I could not find any gloss. Although I was disappointed, I was still able to get nearly $45 worth of stuff and MADE over $6. See the breakdown below :)

Transaction #1

Bought:

2 Physician's Formula concealers for $6.79 each (buy any 1 Physician's Formula products, get $10 ECB)

Used:

$12 in ECB from last trip

Paid $0.66, received $10 ECB

Transaction #2

Bought:

2 Venus razors for $7.29 each (buy any 2 Venus razors, get $5 ECB)
2 Tena pantyliners for $3.79 each (buy 1, get 1 50% off and buy 2, get $4 ECB)
1 All Detergent for $7.29 (on sale for $3.50)

Used:

1 $4/10 razors CVS coupon
2 $3/1 Venus razor manufacturer coupons
2 $2/1 Tena CVS coupons
1 $1/1 All manufacturer coupon
$10 in ECB from transaction #1

Paid $1.58, received $9 in ECB

Overall I paid $2.48 out of pocket, and had $9 ECB left over. This means I got $43.03 worth of stuff and made $6.76. Woo-hoo!!

Catch a Couponing Class This Spring

It's not too late to register for a Spring couponing class through your local community education program. Summer and fall dates will be popping up soon - or you can always schedule your own class with your family and friends! Here are some upcoming dates and locations for coupon classes:

Thursday, April 2nd, 6:30p-8:30p - Couponing 201 (NEW) - Maple Grove Community Ed

Tuesday, April 7th, 6:30p-8:30p - Couponing 101 - Richfield Community Ed

Tuesday, April 14th, 6:30p-8:30p - Couponing 101 - Hopkins Community Ed

Tuesday, April 21st, 6:30p-8:30p - Couponing 101 - Saint Louis Park Community Ed

Tuesday, May 12th, 6:30p-8:30p - Couponing 101 - Bloomington Community Ed

Tuesday, May 19th, 6:30p-8:30p - Couponing 101 - Fridley Community Ed

Mini Target Trip - 6 Items for $1.24

Today was the last day to use the Target coupon "Spend $20 on personal care items, get a $5 gift card." I decided to make use of some great coupons from this week's inserts and was able to get 6 items for $1.24 - that's less than 20 cents each! See how I did it below :)

Bought:

2 Tresemme shampoo/conditioners for $3.99 each (buy 4 Tresemme products, get a $5 gift card)

2 Tresemme hairsprays for $4.99 each (buy 4 Tresemme products, get a $5 gift card

1 Suave hairspray for $2.54

1 Playtex bottle for $4.99

Used:

1 Spend $20 on personal care products, get a $5 Target gift card store coupon

2 $2/1 Tresemme shampoo/conditioner manufacturer coupons

2 $2/1 Tresemme styling product manufacturer coupons

1 $1/1 Suave product manufacturer coupon

1 $5/1 Playtex bottle manufacturer coupon

Paid $11.24 out of pocket, received $10 back in Target gift cards. This means I got over $25 products for only $1.24 - or a little over 20 cents each. That's a 96% savings!!

99% Savings at CVS !!

I decided to try my luck at double dipping tonight at CVS, as I wanted to take advantage of deals from this week and next. For those of you that don't know, double dipping is when you get deals from two weeks in the same trip. This tends to happen at stores that are 24 hours - in this case, CVS usually starts sale prices for Sunday beginning Saturday night around 9pm. Since it's still technically Saturday, the deal prices from the current week are still valid until midnight.

While things did not go exactly as planned due to the mix of a busy store and relatively new staff, I was still able to get $57.52 worth of merchandise for $0.34 - a 99% savings!! See how I did it below.

Transaction #1

Bought:

2 Lady Speed Stick for $3.59 each (on sale 2/$5.50, buy 2 get $3.50 ECB)

Used:

2 $0.50 off Speed Stick manufacturer coupons
$4 ECB from last trip

Paid $0.50, got $3.50 ECB

Transaction #2

Bought:

1 Maybelline Mascara for $5.99
1 Maybelline eye pencil pack for $4.19 (buy 2 Maybelline products, get $5 ECB)
1 Physician's Formula gel eyeliner for $10.49 (spend $10 on any Physician's Formula, get $7 ECB)

Used:

1 $2/1 Maybelline mascara manufacturer coupon
1 $1/1 Maybelline product manufacturer coupon
1 Buy 1 Maybelline mascara and 1 liner, get $5 off CVS coupon
$5 ECB from Beauty Club
$3.50 ECB from transaction #2

Paid $4.17, received $7 and $5 ECB

Transaction #3

Bought:

1 Crest mouthwash for $4.29 (on sale for $3, buy 1 Crest get $2 ECB)
1 Crest toothpaste for $3.99 (buy 1 Crest, get $2 ECB)
1 Schick Hydro laies for $12.49 (on sale for $6.99)
1 Schick Hydro men's for $13.49 (on sale for $6.99
4 Wet and Wild nail polishes for $0.99 (buy 1 Wet and Wild product, get one 50% off)
1 Wet and Wild pressed power for $1.87
1 Wet and Wild eye shadow pallet for $2.87

Used:

2 $1/1 Crest product manufacturer coupons
1 $3/$10 razor purchase CVS coupon
2 $3/1 Schick razor manufacturer coupons
4 $1/1 Wet and Wild manufacturer coupons
$5 and $7 in ECB from transaction #2

Paid $2.67, received $4 ECB and $3 ECB (this is the weird part)

Total $7.34 out of pocket, with $7 ECB left over. This means I paid $0.34 for $57.52 worth of stuff. The weirdness came about because the Wet and Wild deal did not trigger, and the Crest toothpaste I bought was actually the wrong one. The cashier decided to just give me an extra $3 ECB to save time.

Despite all of this, I still managed to save 99.4%!!!!

Guest Post on Saving Money in the Twin Cities

Fun news and entertainment website Newscastic asked me to do a guest post on all of the things people can do to save money in the Twin Cities. Of course I mentioned couponing, but there are always more ways to save! Check out the post here!

89% Savings at Target!

I have the biggest couponing class of my life tomorrow in Anoka. There are 22 people signed up already - which is amazing!! I am so excited to share the couponing lifestyle with everyone. In order to create another super fun gift basket for my class, I went to Target to take advantage of some great deals. I ended up getting $39.26 worth of stuff for only $4.36 out of pocket! See how below :)

My mini Target Haul

Transaction #1

Bought:

2 Tena Pantyliners for $2.89 each (buy 2, get a $5 gift card)

Used:

2 $1/1 Tena product manufacturer coupon

Paid $3.78, received $5 gift card

Transaction #2

Bought:

4 Bic razors for $2.99 each

4 Suave Kids hair detangle spray for $1.89 each (on sale for $1.74 each)

4 Softlips Cubes for $3.49 each (on sale for $3.14 each)

Used:

4 $3/1 Bic razor product manufacturer coupons

2 $3/2 Suave hair care products manufacturer coupons

4 $2/1 Softlips Cube manufacturer coupon

$5 gift card from transaction #1

Paid: $.58

So that is a total of $4.36 out of pocket for nearly $40 worth of stuff. That's an 89% savings, and I was able to make an awesome gift basket for one lucky student tomorrow.

Who will win all this great stuff??